‘Alien Covenant’ to Get Pioneering Audio-Personalized TV Ads in U.K.

20th Century Fox will be one of the first companies to try out a new advertising technology being launched this month by U.K. broadcaster Channel 4. The new interactive VOD format allows advertisers to personalize their audio for users of Channel 4’s on-demand service All 4.

In a first, advertisers will be able to include the names of individual All 4 users within the audio of their marketing campaigns. Channel 4 said Thursday that the first audio-personalized, targeted digital campaigns would launch on All 4 this month. The innovation uses first-party data from the broadcaster’s registered viewer database of 15 million U.K. viewers.

“We’re incredibly excited to offer the market something completely ground-breaking,” said David Amodio, Channel 4’s digital and creative leader. “The most attention-grabbing word for anyone to hear is without doubt one’s own name, so to be able to offer advertisers the chance to speak directly to our millions of viewers is not just unique but an immensely powerful marketing tool.”

Fox will utilize the new offering in its campaign for the U.K. release of Ridley Scott’s “Alien Covenant,” which opens in the U.K. on May 12. All 4 users will see a clip from the latest entry in the long-running horror franchise, enhanced by a personalized message.

“We are delighted to be the first to use this new technology,” said Chris Green, marketing director at 20th Century Fox. “The audio personalization complements and enhances the alien footage perfectly.”

Other advertising launch partners on Channel 4’s pioneering technology include Foster’s beer and U.K. home improvement-product manufacturer Ronseal. The audio-personalization technology was developed for Channel 4 by video technology partners Innovid.